


To Travel a Dream

by DroppedBear



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Asexual Character, F/M, Trainers must have completed compulsory education before their journey, additional characters to be added as they appear, additional tags to be added as appropriate, everyone gets more than six pokemon, mentions of acephobia, more realistic, slight romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-07-22 23:29:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20000254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DroppedBear/pseuds/DroppedBear
Summary: Together with his froakie starter, Ash embarks on his dream to become a pokemon master, like the father he's only heard stories about. But in the shadows hides one of the deadliest threats to fulfilling his dream.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> After a long while, I finally decided to start writing again. This story follows the original Pokemon Adventures manga and the games, and would be a more realistic take on the Pokemon world.
> 
> Please read tags for warnings.

The late morning sun drifts in through a gap in the blackout curtains, partially illuminating an extremely messy bedroom. Papers are strewn around the floor, many with doodles of different pokemon adorning their faces. An alarm clock lies broken next to the nightstand near the bed, and a very full backpack leans against the dresser. A figure almost entirely under the covers continues to snore loudly.

A slightly muffled woman's voice drifts in through the closed door. "Ash? Ash, get up! You _have_ to go! You're late!"

There is no response from the lump in the bed, and the snoring continues, possibly even louder than before.

The door is thrown open, slamming against the doorstop, jarring the teen awake and into a sitting position. Bleary-eyed, he quickly focuses a glare at the doorway.

"What? What could you _possibly_ want this early in the morning?" Ash questions through a yawn.

"Ash, it's eleven in the morning, the Professor wanted you at the lab before seven."

Even before his mom finished her sentence, Ash had thrown the covers off, and was already picking up his set of clothes he had picked out the night before. His mother quickly shut the door.

Dressing in record time, he picks up the backpack next to the dresser, throws one of its straps over his shoulder and barely opens the door in time to keep himself from slamming into it on his way out of the room. His mom opens the front door as she hears him careening down the stairs. Grabbing the apple his mom hands him and his hat off the hat rack in the other hand, he sprints down the road at a surprising speed. He calls a goodbye over his shoulder with a short wave, then returns his focus ahead. His mother's voice trails behind after him, but he's too lost in his thoughts to hear her.

Arriving at the lab in record time, he immediately notices the tall man standing outside, tapping away at his phone. Deciding he's not worth the time, Ash chooses to ignore him and head for the entrance to the lab.

"Looks like the hero finally turns up to save the day. A bit late though, wouldn't you say, Lichi?" the man snarks from behind him, and he feels his cheeks flush with anger at the answering high-pitched giggle.

Ash turns around, taking a closer look at the stranger's appearance. He's tall, at least a head taller, albeit a little lanky, but he can make out the slight hint of well-defined muscles under the clothing. He's dressed in a black hoodie with white and orange highlights. In the middle, the words "Lumiose Firecats" could be seen in bright orange. Completing the outfit is tan jeans and sturdy hiking shoes. He manages to catch the row of pokeballs peeking out from the hoodie. More than the standard six; clearly an experienced Trainer. But he dismisses that in favour of getting his charmander.

"I don't know you, and I don't have time for introductions. I need to get in the lab and grab my charmander." Ash says with a frown.

"There are no more charmanders-" Ash storms through the door, interrupting the man before he could say any more. He makes a beeline for Professor Oak, who has just finished talking to a lab assistant.

"The man outside says you don't have any starters left. You'd better a charmander for me. You _said_ you'd have one for me." Ash almost growled.

"Ash, I told you I'd have one for you _if you arrived at a reasonable time._ I know you have a problem with sleeping in, but I just couldn't hold onto these starters any longer. I've got another pokemon around here that could use a trainer, but it's not a standard starter." Professor Oak explains calmly, if a bit tiredly, and motioned towards a single pokeball on a nearby counter.

Ash picks up the pokeball. Turning the ball in his hands, he examines it before aiming it at the open floor and pressing the central button. In a stream of red light, a pokemon appeared. To Ash, it looked like a disappointingly weak black ball, leaking ethereal, purple mist. The face on the pokemon turned towards him and inspected its perceived new trainer.

 _“This_ is all you have left?" He asks.

The professor only sighs deeply and nods, not even turning from his work. "I'm sorry, Ash, but we told you exactly when to arrive. You're lucky we even had her on hand at all. Take the machine next to where her ball was. It's got all her information in it. You can also scan other pokemon to update its internal database."

Ash picks up the machine, quickly locating the power button. A cheery chime plays from the machine, before the words 'Starting Pokedex' appeared on the screen.

It's a gastly, apparently. A ghost and poison type. Ash doesn't spend any more time looking at the machine before pressing the button on the pokeball again. His new pokemon lets out a short noise of surprise before being snatched in the red beam again, and sucked back into the red and white ball.

"Before you go, Ash, I hope Jasper introduced himself to you?" Oak asks from his desk.

"Who?"

The Professor pauses for a moment. "I should have known he wouldn't introduce himself." He mumbles almost inaudibly, and then continues in a louder voice. "The man outside the lab is Jasper. He's the… the man who is going to accompany you in your journey. It's dangerous to travel alone, you should know this."

Ash grits his teeth and doesn't respond. Instead, he simply turns around and leaves the room. After exiting the lab compound, he turns to Jasper and sighs.

"Alright, Jason, the old man says you have to come with me." He deliberately butchers his name, hoping to get a rise out of him, as he walks off, hands in his pockets. However, the other man doesn't take the bait.

"…It's Jasper," the man corrects in a plain tone.

The two advance along Route 1 in silence, with Ash taking the lead, a frown remaining on his face and Jasper just behind him, looking between the back of Ash's head and the pokeball on his belt.

"I guess the Professor did have something left for you then?" The taller man asks, adjusting his goggles after the short jog.

Ash makes a noise of affirmation but otherwise continues walking in silence. After a couple minutes, he responds. "It's just a dumb looking ghost. It'd probably blow away in the wind. It's going to have to work extra hard to get even close to the kind of strength I'm looking for in my team."

Jasper's mouth twitches into a small frown for a moment, before returning to its neutral position. "Of course. You shouldn't underestimate a ghost though, no matter its looks."

"Are you here to escort me or do you just want to nag?"Ash replies bitterly.

There is no response. The hours drag by, mostly in silence, and eventually, the sun begins to set. Jasper convinces a reluctant Ash to take a rest and start camp on the side of the road as the temperature drops and light starts to fade. 

The camp is a small one. The taller brunet quickly gathers some loose wood and branches from the surroundings to set up a firepit, and Ash was still trying to put his tent together.

"If travelling is this easy, I'm not even sure why you're here. I haven't even _heard_ a pokemon this entire day, let alone seen one." The teen voices from the other side of the partially assembled tent.

"Route 1 isn't really known for an abundance of strong pokemon. Seeing us both together is probably enough to spook any potential wild pokemon away. We'll probably see more in the Viridian Forest." Jasper replies, as he reaches for the pokeballs clipped onto his belt.

Ash pauses his work as he hears the sound of a pokemon being released from its ball, quickly followed by the sound of the bonfire igniting. He peeks around the nearly-assembled tent, and spots his travelling companion putting away a dark-colored pokeball back into his vest. An orange lizard sits next to him, claws crossed in front of its cream-colored chest as it looks up at its trainer, flame-tipped tail swinging loosely behind it.

Immediately, Ash returns to work, hammering in the last two pegs with considerable force. "So _you're_ the one who took my charmander!" He barked, louder than is necessary.

"There were three charmanders there. You weren't the only one starting their journey earlier today. I'm really sorry you missed your chance." Jasper replied calmly, rubbing his charmander's chin.

Ash nearly reaches for his pokeball on his belt, but his hand stops, and clenches into a fist. He turns swiftly around and enters his tent, zipping up the entry flap.

The charmander tilts its head in confusion, looking between the tent and its trainer. 

"Don't worry about it, little one. He'll be fine. I think it's best we just give him space for now." He murmurs to the fire lizard, before settling into a more relaxed position, propped against a log.

The charmander nestles into his side, keeping its tail well clear of anything flammable, and closes its eyes. A glimmer appears in the air on the opposite side of the trainer, as something briefly presses against the other side of the trainer, before settling down on the top of his head. Confident that the bonfire will keep away the wild pokemon, Jasper closes his eyes and quickly falls into a light sleep.

* * *

The zipper sealing Ash's tent closed is pulled down, revealing the bedraggled head of its owner, hat already in its natural place on his head. Jasper is already up, his charmander waddling around next to him, seemingly unwilling to part very far. Ash glares at them both before exiting the tent and beginning to dismantle it.

It's much faster to dismantle the tent, it seems, but takes much longer to fit the folded shelter back into its storage compartment. Eventually, Ash gives up and puts his backpack back on, the storage flap slightly propped open. He looks up to see if anyone else saw his struggle, but spots Jasper on the edge of the woods, pointing out objects to a starstruck young charmander. He sighs, and starts down the path again.

Footsteps approach from behind sooner than he'd like, but he remains silent. More hours are spent walking, still with no wild pokemon sightings. Ash's frown seems to be a permanent part of his expression today, as he's heard Jasper quietly talk to his pokemon for most of the trek. It seems he's not nearly as silent when talking to pokemon. 

Without stopping, he reaches into a side pocket on the backpack and pulls out an energy bar. He's not sure what time it really is, but it's certainly time to eat. He hears rustling sounds and glances back. The older man is holding onto a packet of dried jerky and regularly tosses some meat into the maw of the happy lizard by his side. Trainer and pokemon seem to make a game of it; Jasper would toss a piece in a random direction around the fire-type, and it would hop around and catch every one. Every few pieces eaten by the charmander, he'd eat a piece himself.

Ash groans in annoyance, and walks faster, climbing up the path winding up the hill, ahead of his escort. Soon enough, all that's on his mind is that the hill really has no business being so tall. Finally he reaches the top of the hill, and stops. In the distance, Viridian City can be seen sprawled across the land below. To his despair, he can tell it would still take most of the day to reach it.

Jasper arrives shortly afterwards, his charmander riding his shoulders, taking in the sights with glee from his elevated position. Ash shoots him a look.

"You can't really expect the little guy to walk so much? He's young and not all that fit quite yet." He responds with a shrug.

They both stare at the city a little longer before continuing onward. The rest of the route can be seen in its entirety as it winds down the hill and across the fields into city limits. 

Despite never having been down Route 1, Ash still finds it odd that he hasn't even heard so much as the call of a pidgey, but he doesn't voice his worries. 

A couple hours of more walking, and the broody teen is about ready for a rest. While certainly not in bad shape, two days of constant walking is not easy for him to do. He glances over at Jasper. To his disappointment, Jasper hasn't even seemed to break a sweat, even through his thick-looking jacket.

Jasper, taking note of his escortee's apparent exhaustion, decides to speak up. "There's a grouping of trees down a bit farther if you'd like to rest."

Ash grunts, adjusts his hat lower, and walks farther ahead. They soon pass the trees. Jasper glances over at the younger trainer in concern, but says nothing.

They reach the city that evening, and none too late. Ash looks almost dead on his feet. From the way he's began slowing down, Jasper thinks it's best they book rooms somewhere pretty soon. He takes the lead, and at this point Ash is too tired to complain. He soon leads them into a pokemon centre. Exchanging some words with the woman behind the front desk in a low voice, he's quickly given two keys. He hands one to his exhausted partner and points him to his door. Ash collapses down on his bed, instantly asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who commented or left kudos for the last chapter; I hope that you all enjoy this next chapter.

Once in his own room, Jasper releases the three pokemon he brought with him, causing the charmander to squeak in fright and scramble to hide behind him. But the lizard isn't fast enough to avoid the enthusiastic pounce as the purple dragonair wraps her serpentine body around him. His other pokemon climbs up and settles on his right shoulder and of course, Lichi takes her usual place on his head.

The trainer laughs at the comical sight of the helpless charmander underneath the too-large dragon and takes out his phone to snap a photo.

/ _Behold your majestic charmander, lil bro._ / He adds a caption to the picture, sends it and pockets his phone again. He watches the still-hapless pokemon who is frantically trying to get free for a few seconds more before deciding to take pity on him.

"Tsuyu, _please_ let go of him."

The dragonair pouts but does what he asks. The shaymin jumps down and approaches the charmander, snuffling happily. Tsuyu also draws closer and pokes the charmander with her horn. Likewise, his third pokemon, a mimikyu, also reveals herself, thankfully at a safe distance; he didn't want an unconscious charmander.

"Charmander, meet Tsuyu, Yuki and Lichi," he points to each of his three present pokemon. The lizard waves a hand enthusiastically at Yuki, even as he edges away from the dragon-type, who pouts again.

Jasper pulls out his phone again when he hears a loud ping. / _No bullying Lancelot._ / Of course his brother would choose the name belonging to Kalos' first champion's starter pokemon.

"Charmander, would you like a name?" He asks, and at the nod, he continues. "How about Lancelot? The name was given to a very famous pokemon." He elaborates at seeing the confused look. The newly-dubbed Lancelot didn't even think twice about accepting the name; apparently, hearing the word 'famous' is good enough.

"Hey buddy," he calls out to the fire-lizard, in deep conversation with his pokemon. "Come here, I'm going to scan you with this, which would tell me what moves you have learnt, and other basic data." he explains as he holds up his tablet. Lancelot nods and stands still for the scan.

_Charmander, the Lizard Pokemon. The flame that burns at the tip of its tail is an indication of its emotions. The flame wavers when Charmander is enjoying itself. If the Pokémon becomes enraged, the flame burns fiercely._

_This pokemon is male and knows the moves: growl, scratch and ember. Its ability is Blaze, which increases the power of its fire-type moves when it is low on health._

He looks at the charmander thoughtfully. Lancelot isn't exactly his responsibility but he supposes he could train the baby a bit. But that would have to wait, he muses, just as the baby lizard's stomach growl loudly, and Lichi giggles at the charmander's obvious embarrassment.

"Okay, let's get some food, how does steak sound?" He directs the question to Lancelot, because his pokemon doesn't mind what type of food they eat, as long as it's not the canned meat. None of them like the accursed stuff.

Lancelot nods enthusiastically in reply but takes care to not dislodge the tiny hedgehog perched on his head.

"Alright then, let's go." Jasper briefly scratches the charmander under his chin. He pauses briefly in front of Ash's door and knocks a few times and states his name and asks if he would like to get something to eat. There's no reply; the young trainer is either ignoring him or fast asleep, so he gives up.

Once they are outside, the trainer turns to his newest charge. "Go find the steakhouse," He gets a blank look and elaborates, "Follow your nose, buddy."

After making sure his passenger is secure, Lancelot runs ahead enthusiastically but stops frequently and glances back to make sure he doesn't lose sight of his trainer. At the last intersection, the tantalising smell of the grill is overwhelming and he impatiently beckons for Jasper to hurry up. The tall man chuckles as the lizard begins hopping from one foot to the other.

"Good job," he murmurs quietly, and the charmander barks happily, wrapping chubby arms around his leg.

The line is not that long, which he is grateful for. He knows Lancelot is starving – the hopping has increased exponentially – and even Lichi, who doesn't eat a lot, is restless. The line moves swiftly and soon enough, they reach the front.

"Alright then, what'll it be?" the gruff, burly looking man behind the counter grunts.

Glancing at the price board behind the man, Jasper does some quick calculations in his head… four hundred and fifty dollars in total. But for his pokemon, it is worth it.

* * *

Jasper stands at the edge of the training field, tapping away at his tablet. On the field are his dragonair and shaymin, both firing attacks nonstop – or trying to, in Tsuyu's case; her poor eyesight causes more misses – at the charmander, who is doing his best to dodge by running faster. He gives it another couple of minutes and then glances up. Predictably, Lancelot is slowing down and taking a lot more hits.

"Alright. Tsuyu, Yuki, lay off the attacks. Lancelot, one more lap to cool off." He orders. All three look exhausted but somehow, his two overly friendly pokemon muster up enough energy to approach him, eagerly awaiting their favourite berries – the dry yet sweet Cornn berry for Yuki and the sweet but also containing a hint of bitterness Watmel for Tsuyu. He digs into his belt pouch and manages to come up with two of each. Meanwhile, Lancelot just collapses into a heap, clearly too exhausted to from the harsh training and he recalls the young charmander before he could be subjected to Lichi's prankster nature.

"Good job," he repeats the earlier phrase of encouragement. "You certainly lasted a lot longer than my starter when he started out." The pokeball heats up for a second, as Lancelot shows his pride at the compliment.

* * *

A series of infrequent high pitched giggling, muffled thumps and growls of anger rouses Ash from his slumber. There may as well have been a pokemon battle next door, with the amount of movement and angry cries making their way through the deceptively thin wall. He thinks about going next door and giving whoever's there a piece of his mind but then decides it's probably a better plan to explore the city.

Rolling out of his bed, he quickly makes his way to the attached bathroom to clean up the dirt he'd acquired from the walk earlier. Turning on the shower, he prepares for his day. When he comes out, the noises seem to have died down, which he is grateful for.

Emerging from his hotel room after he refills his bottles and places it back into his pack, the teen adjusts his hat, before returning the hotel key to the attendant and making his way out the doors, snagging a city map on the way out.

Squinting at the light of day, Ash looks around before opening up the map. Having never used a paper map, his focus is drawn to the unfamiliar symbols covering the entire city map. He's not even sure where he's at on the map, as each sector of the city has its own detailed section. Ash spends a couple minutes trying to make sense of the map before giving up and spends even more time trying to figure out how to fold it back up.

Ash reaches into his pocket and opens up his PokéDex and opens the map feature to find that is has almost no details at all, his location coming up in a blank field of green with the words "Viridian City" somewhere just above.

Swivelling in place, he starts walking towards where he can see the tallest of buildings. Surely he'll find something along the way, and if not, he can at least get a view from above with the taller buildings. He's just hoping he'll be able to ditch his escort.

Thinking back on the previous days, Ash's mood darkens. He pulls his cap lower and shifts his gaze downward as he walks, heedless of other foot traffic.

Glancing down at his hands, he finds that he didn't actually put the pokedex away. Scrolling through the functions, he finds that almost all functions not related to pokemon are ridiculously vague. The weather forecast reads _"It's going to be a pleasant day today, with no clouds, unless there is some clouds and it rains."_

Ash is so focused on the PokéDex that when he checks the clock function, he almost can't believe over thirty minutes have passed. Looking up, his frown intensifies. The tall buildings are gone. Looking around, he can't spot them from any angle. 

Loud, boisterous cheering gets his attention. Glancing over, he spots a group of people gathered around something. Curious, he makes his way closer to the huddle.

"…league match between Champion Lance Wataru representing the Kanto League and Champion Terrence Fisher representing the Johto League. This will be a one on one match, with two reserve pokemon allowed but no substitutions."

Ash pushes to the front of the crowd to see them gathered around a television set. Two men stands at opposite ends of a very large stadium, a large pool of water sitting between them. At one end is a rather stern-looking man with pale skin and upswept, spiky auburn red hair. Pronounced cheekbones and a sharp chin gives him a predatory, hawkish look. Ash's eyes are immediately drawn to the billowing black and red cape trailing behind him, the collar coming high up his neck. His royal blue outfit is trimmed in orange and thick orange-detailed black boots finishes his outfit. One ultra ball and two luxury balls can be seen on his waist.

Ash recognises him immediately. How could he not? The man is his idol, someone he has always looked up to and tried to emulate; it is because of this reason that being denied a charmander hit him hard. Seeing him appear once again in a high-profile battle like this is something he can't wait to witness.

At the other end of the stadium stands an imposing man, with arms crossed and a relaxed, confident grin on his face. Tall and extremely heavily muscled, he almost looked more like a monolithic statue. He has dark skin, a mostly shaved head and a short, neat dark brown mohawk with blonde tips. A simple, white button-up shirt covered his chest, although the top few buttons were left undone and the sleeves were rather strained from the position. Navy blue trousers were held up by a leather belt with a simple gold buckle and tucked into some vintage style, sea-worn leather boots. A bright blue and white striped square cloth can be seen tied around his belt on his left side, with one dive ball, one lure ball and one net ball clipped to his opposite hip. He rubs the bracelet on his right wrist before lowering his arms to his sides.

Ash doesn't recognize the hulking man but surely Lance will wipe the floor with him. There's no way this newcomer can match his sheer power, even if he's another champion.

Lance reached down and unclips the ultra ball, before aiming it towards the pool and pressing the central button. A large kingdra bursts into existence in a flash of light and quickly submerges itself until its red eyes are poking just above the water.

Ash has seen this same kingdra knock a rampaging machamp out in one blow. This Terrence guy better at least put up a fight.

Terrence releases the contents of the dive ball into the water, revealing an equally impressive kingdra. It narrows its orange eyes at its rival and bellows out a short challenge call before sinking into a similar position.

Ash is fairly certain that you're not allowed to use the same pokemon as Lance. It's no issue, Lance'll certainly have no problem defeating this wannabe.

Both champions confirm that they are ready, before the referee starts the match.

"Riptide, use whirlpool on the other end of the pool. Force a close range battle." Terrence calls to his pokemon in a low voice. The dragon spins quickly, tail glowing a dim blue and the water at the other end of the large pool began to spin rapidly.

"Sydney, use the whirlpool to add momentum and use giga impact!" Lance yells over the sound of rushing water.

His kingdra swims just at the edge of the whirlpool, rapidly gaining momentum and begins to glow white. In just a few seconds, the whirlpool is ringed in a white streak, before launching towards the opposing dragon.

The windup, while short, allows Riptide to ready a protect. Sydney notices the dome-like barrier form and shifts her angle of attack so that she hit it at a glancing angle, her momentum bouncing her a reasonable distance away to allow a short recovery.

Riptide's eyes flashes with orange light and disables Sydney's giga impact, yawns and follows it up with a smokescreen. Thick black ink fills the water, allowing him to use dragon dance in relative safety. 

Sydney blasts a hydro pump into the smokescreen, the current pushing most of the concealment into the whirlpool at the other end of the pool, and exposing Riptide.

The seahorse immediately aimed a flash cannon at Riptide's eyes, the projectile forming and travelling with astonishing speed. With little time to react, Riptide is struck in the face by the ball of bright light and flips twice before stabilizing himself.

Momentarily blinded, Riptide tenses for an attack but nothing happens. Across the pool, Sydney lays asleep. Sensing his opportunity, he focuses on the blurry shape of the other kingdra and shoots a beam of ice towards his snoozing opponent. The beam glances off her side, doing less damage than hoped and wakes her up.

Sydney is momentarily confused upon waking up but quickly jumps completely out of the water to avoid another ice beam. Crashing down directly atop Riptide, she pushes him even back farther before blowing an icy wind attack towards him, coming out as a stream of icy bubbles underwater.

The attack does little damage to the orange-eyed dragon but it does slow him down. Riptide has since cleared his vision and unleashes a powerful blizzard attack, freezing the water around Sydney.

Sydney, frozen up to her neck, spots Riptide preparing another attack and sees no other choice. She lowers her head slightly and bright pink hearts drift from her eyes. Riptide blinks a couple times and drifts a little closer.

Sydney blasts him in the face with a hyper beam, knocking him entirely out of the water.

This fight was way too close. It has to be a fluke, Ash thinks. At least Lance won this round.

Terrence sighs and recalls his dazed pokemon, before unclipping his net ball, and releasing a massive sea serpent. The gyarados lifts his head and releases a ground-shaking roar, before scanning his surroundings.

"Maelstrom, finish off the kingdra." Terrence spoke calmly from his position. Maelstrom looks down at the stuck kingdra before flicking his massive tail and flinging Sydney across the room. Lance recalls her just before she hits the far wall.

The redhead releases his next pokemon from one of the luxury balls, the light materializing into the form of a dragonite. "Be careful out there, Winston. Evasion is a top priority," he warns.

Winston is surrounded by purple and red mists as he rocks back and forth, his own lack of dancing skills having no effect on the use of the move and then rockets into the air.

The giant at the other end of the room lets out a strange, warbling call as he swings his head left and right and within seconds, it's pouring down rain.

The orange dragon fires off thunderbolts in quick succession, doing heavy damage to the rain-soaked serpent. Terrence swiftly lifts his right arm and presses his left hand against the center of the bracelet.

"Maelstrom, mega evolve!" He yells, as both his bracelet and the gyarados flash in a myriad of colors.

The new form of the serpent is even bigger and meaner and immediately a powerful thunder attack strikes Winston, driving him down towards the water.

Mega evolve? Ash has never heard of such a thing. More importantly, is this even allowed in official matches? He glances at the referee, who makes no attempt to stop the match.

The dragonite perches on the side of the pool, roosting to heal slightly, and fires off another thunderbolt. A protective barrier deflects another horrifically powerful thunder attack. Closing his eyes, Winston brings his focus upwards, firing a glowing ball towards the distant ceiling, where it splits into several other orbs, quickly homing in on the gyarados.

The serpent braces for the hit and barely endures the multiple explosive impacts. Mimicking what he saw, he attempts to fire his own draco meteor. The projectile splits into noticeably less orbs, but there's enough of them to make it difficult for Winston to dodge them all when grounded.

Ash has never seen a closely-matched pokemon battle before, and is slightly shocked at the power that these pokemon displayed.

Another thunderbolt attack strikes Maelstrom right between the eyes, knocking him out before Winston is battered by the incoming attack.

Both trainers recall their fighters and release their final pokemon. Lance releases another dragonite, while Terrence has brought out a walrein.

Having never seen a walrein before, Ash, for once, is worried for Lance. This creature looks experienced and formidable. 

The hefty ice walrus spots the opposition and snorts. Lance's dragonite watches in silence. Neither trainer nor pokemon reacts to Terrence's cocky grin.

"It's down to you, Borealis. He's got one left too. Don't underestimate its speed. You should try to force it closer." Terrence suggests, but the walrein only huffs and rolls her eyes at the advice.

"Geoff, hit that walrein with everything you have, but watch out for the tusks. Victory is within sight." Lance commands with confidence.

A stream of blue electricity sparks from the dragonite's antennae, shooting into the water and branching out in dramatic, glowing arcs, before jumping out of the water and shocking the walrein on the opposite end of the pool. Borealis tenses, sparks arcing up and down her body, but no visible damage is done.

Borealis responds with a guttural noise, slamming her flippers against the ground, and oversized hailstones begin to fall across the stadium.

Geoff rockets towards his opponent, slamming into her with extreme speed. Borealis' entire body ripples, but she doesn't move back very much, and swiftly slashes her glowing white tusks across the chest of the dragonite in front of her before he can retreat.

Having taken a heavy hit from the super fang attack, and still being battered with hailstones, Geoff swiftly backs off to a safe distance to roost and recover.

Spotting her opportunity, Borealis opens her mouth, a white glow visible from within. Cold mist spills out, freezing her surroundings solid. Geoff recognizes the sheer cold attack, and attempts to back away from the attack, but slips on some of the hailstones covering the ground. The ice drifts closer, until it stops just before him.

The walrein's jaw has shut, her entire body clenched, and electricity arcing around her body. Geoff, having recovered enough, swoops towards the paralyzed pokemon, tightens his focus, and throws a high powered punch at her face with a glowing blue fist. The impact is so powerful that his target does a full backflip, landing with a heavy thump and sliding towards the stadium wall, and she sits unmoving.

Just before the referee can call the battle, Borealis lifts her head, snorts, and throws her tail in a tight arc, a blizzard being formed and swiftly thrown at the dragonite, freezing him solid.

Eyes narrowed, she slowly approaches him, visibly dazed from his punch. She waddles and pulls her body until she's right up against the dragonite, and prepares another sheer cold attack.

Geoff is absorbed back into his pokeball, and Lance clips it back on his waist. He sighs as the referee announces the winner, then walks around the pool to shake hands with Terrence.

Ash stares at the television for a moment, before jerking away from the set. He can't believe Lance has lost.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a review on your way out.


End file.
